/m/hall_of_fame

Reader Comments and Retorts

Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.

I worry sometimes that, fifty years from now, we'll see articles arguing that Joe West should be on the HoF ballot.

Not happening. In fact, I think we've moved past the point where an umpire will even be considered for the HoF in the future - umpires don't stand out for good reasons, and I think that's the way MLB wants it.

Actually, I see a day where a sub-segment of fans (like those here) is very knowledgeable of which umps are the best thanks to things like Pitch-Fx and various tools that will determine how often umpires get out calls and fair/foul calls right. Right now we have stats on which umps call a game correctly for balls-strikes, and we have catchers who make a career out of tricking those umps. The umps who aren't tricked will get recognized eventually by the stats addicts and that will lead to more general knowledge about them which will most likely match up with players and executives views of those same umps. That will make it a lot easier to get them voted in as the true standout will be able to show that they did stand out.

For example, grabbing a couple at random...Angel Campos' zone can be seen and compared to Jim Joyce. Both are circular with Joyce being very nice for RHH (perfectly centered) but weak vs LHH (outside pitches he never calls for them). Campos is more oval and appears fairly small vs LHH. If I read it right, Campos gets fastballs right 86.1% of the time while Joyce gets them right 87.7%. Joe West is at 85% for comparison with a very odd looking zone vs LHH.